1990

After the FMLN offensive, U.S. awareness that the war would not end soon in El Salvador, coupled with CARECEN’s Ningun Ser Humano es Illegal national campaign, leads Congress to require that El Salvador be designated for the new status of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), to give temporary refuge to those fleeing the war.

The U.S. Government settles the ABC lawsuit. The ABC settlement requires the INS to provide new and fair asylum interviews to over 250,000 Guatemalan and Salvadoran asylum applicants. This litigation also allows 250,000 ABC class members and their family members to obtain employment authorization. This is only a partial victory because refugees who arrive in the U.S. after 1990 are not eligible for these programs. Thousands continue to be detained and deported by the INS.